Cross-country skiing | Stewart-Jones and Cyr climb the provisional general classification

Katherine Stewart-Jones and Antoine Cyr took advantage of the penultimate stage of the Tour de Ski, held in Val di Fiemme, Italy, to climb a few places in the provisional general classification of the event. On Saturday, in the skiathlon, Stewart-Jones took 15^e rank on the women’s side, while Cyr finished 16^e in men.

Twentieth at the start, the Quebecer quickly gained a few ranks to settle in 16^e place from the first kilometers. She remained there in a small group until the very end of the race where she managed a final overtake to end the day at 15^e step.

“It was a very difficult race. It generally went well on my side, I felt good, but the leading group left me behind from the start. My group wasn’t the fastest, so I had to take several stints to close the gaps. I managed to finish strong and catch a girl who was about ten seconds ahead of me throughout the race,” Katherine Stewart-Jones told Sportcom.

This result allows him to move from 20^e au 17^e place in the provisional classification with only one race to go.

“I think I can still sneak into the top-15 to the general. There are a lot of things that can happen. I am very happy with my current ranking, but I think I can improve it tomorrow (Sunday). »

The skiathlon was particularly intense on Saturday as the overall leaders set the pace. Norwegian Therese Johaug won with a lead of 30.6 seconds over Austrian Teresa Stadlober and her compatriot Astrid Oeyre Slind, who finished second and third respectively.

“The race was fast from the start, everyone gave 100% and it was difficult to find your rhythm. You have to manage today’s race, but what’s more, it’s a stage race, which complicates things. Nobody wants to lose time in the general classification, it’s really intense,” concluded the Chelsea cross-country skier.

For her part, Liliane Gagnon took the 29^e rank. She also occupies the 29^e place in the provisional general classification.

On the men’s side, Antoine Cyr had a day quite similar to that of Katherine Stewart-Jones. The one who started on 22^e rank was explosive at the start of the day, finding himself momentarily at the door of the top-10before concluding the race at 16^e rank, a step that he now occupies in the provisional general classification of the Tour.

The Norwegian Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo signed his fourth victory since the start of the Tour, consolidating his place at the top of the provisional general classification. The Italian Federico Pellegrino (+2.4 seconds) finished second while the Norwegian Jan Thomas Jenssen (+3.9 seconds) completed the podium.

Olivier Léveillé crossed the finish line at 24^e level Saturday and finds himself 31^e to the general.

A 10 kilometer freestyle, mass start, will take place on Sunday at the conclusion of the Tour de Ski.